Twelve Days of Christmas
by 4thFromTheFurnace
Summary: Christmas is quickly approaching and Hiyono and the Blade Children have twelve days to come up with all of their different plans, including dealing with the younger Narumi. -AyuHiyo-
1. One Overdressed Jamboree

**Greetings and Salutations to everybody! I wrote this in about a half an hour after I got home from work, so it's short and I'm tired, but here it is! I had to get it in on time for it to be on the first day of Christmas! Anywho, everybody knows I don't own Spiral, etc etc, I'm tired, and if I did own it, Hizumi wouldn't be evil and Ayumu would wake up and smell the mistletoe already(with his Newshound standing under it)! Read on and be happy! Merry First Day of Christmas!!**

Nothing but a little Christmas cheer, that's how it started. It wasn't much, just a normal Christmas with friends and family, until Senior newspaper reporter Hiyono Yuizaki got involved.

Ayumu Narumi slept under cover of a magazine in the newspaper room while Hiyono rattled away typing. Occasionally she stopped on account of her stomach's complaints, but she never stayed away for long. She was on a MISSION!

She had talked to the only real girl friends she had earlier that day, concocting a master plan that seemed utterly and totally devious. Hiyono knew that if she revealed her plan to her sleeping colleague anytime soon, her plan would go KABOOM! Hiyono attacked the computer keyboard and mouse with every idea she could possibly come up with.

She didn't plan to save the document at all, lest certain snoopy detectives figure out what she was up to. She had to be secret. She had to be cunning. She had to keep this as quiet as she possibly could. No one but her partners in crime could know about it until they had it ready. The reporter occasionally glanced back at her best friend, still snoozing under the magazine. She HAD to make sure he stayed asleep.

Hiyono shook her caramel bangs out of her face, her hands busy typing as fast as she could. As she typed, her mind wandered. It was so close to Christmas, only twelve days away. She hadn't even BEGUN to shop for Christmas presents for anyone, and she knew that she had better start soon if she actually planned to find one for Ayumu Narumi, possibly the hardest person in the world for her to shop for. Hiyono knew quite well that Ayumu did not expect a gift from her, only torment while she made him go shopping to get something for Madoka, his ever-so-expressive sister-in-law.

This time however, Ayumu wouldn't be going with her this time. Nope, he wouldn't know a thing about it. That is, until it was too late. Hiyono mentally gave an evil laugh, careful not to awake the sleeping mental, musical, and culinary genius.

Hiyono stopped typing to tap her chin. What if he suspects? What would she do? Maybe she could play along and make him go shopping for Madoka while, little did he know...

After about ten more minutes of brainstorming on Hiyono's part, she decided that it was time to retire her mind for now, print out the document, and make sure Ayumu didn't wake up before then.

The printer churned and spit out the printed paper as Ayumu took the magazine off his face. Hiyono quickly stuffed the paper into her coat pocket and clicked out of the document, deleting it.

Ayumu studied his way-too-innocent-looking sidekick, his eyebrow raised. Hiyono mentally slapped herself. Oh phooey, he suspected!

Hiyono pouted, "Narumi-san! You've been asleep almost the whole period! I'm hungry!"

Ayumu shrugged and looked at the clock before replacing the magazine over his face, "Well, since there's still fifteen minutes, I think I'll continue where I left off while you continue making those fliers for the Christmas party you, Rio, and Ryoko are so 'secretly' planning."

Hiyono held in a gasp and gave an indignant angry growl, "Mou!!! Grrr!! Narumi-san! You weren't supposed to know about that!"

Ayumu mumbled through the pages of the magazine, "Well, looks like you're not the only one who has sources for secret information, huh?"

Hiyono, with a bear puppet on hand, punched her friend's shoulder, "Hiyono Punch! Narumi-san is an all-knowing evil dictator!"

Ayumu took the magazine off his face and looked at her blandly, "No, I just get my information elsewhere when my Info Hound is keeping secrets."

The reporter gave Ayumu what would be classified as the Hiyono Stare of Death. She would get him back for this. Because of his stupid all-knowing...all-knowingness, her plan had to be re-planned. This whole time she thought she had arrived at the perfect plan that no one would suspect and there would be no way whatsoever that Ayumu could get out of it. Now that he knew, there were so many ways that, being the super-detective that he is, he could figure out how to skip out of this ultimate super extreme climactic event that she'd thought up, with some help. He ruined her perfect plan...

Oh yeah. She would get him back good. She could barely hide the Grinch grin that threatened to spread across her face. Oh yes. There were many ways to skin a cat.

**End of First Chapter, I HAVE to get the second one in tomorrow, because tomorrow's the SECOND day of Christmas, so expect more incredibly soon! It isn't going to be very long, I don't think, just twelve chapters, one for each day. I HIGHLY doubt it will even COMPARE to the length of Kiss the Cook, because the length of that, I will admit, is a bit ridiculous, but at least Kiss the Cook only has three more chapters. So anywho, I love you guys and I'll be in touch tomorrow! Tootles!**


	2. Two Bentou Lunches

**Sorry it's a couple hours late! I was out Christmas shopping! Anywho! It's still December 14th in Japan, so it counts! On with the second day...**

Ayumu stared solemnly at the eggs in the frying pan. Just another normal day. Somehow he had woken up early and couldn't go back to sleep, so he decided to fix a nice hearty breakfast for himself and his brother's moody little wife. As he slid the eggs out of the pan and onto a couple plates, buttering the bronzed toast still on the plates, he walked casually back to Madoka's room and stood there for a moment. When she didn't move, he gave her a rather annoyed wake-up call and left her plate of food on the table. As he munched on his toast, his mind gave an exclamation. There was something different...

He could hear himself think! It was so quiet. Too quiet. The brunet glanced around suspiciously. There was no overly-obnoxious noise in his apartment! Madoka was sleeping and the other noise...wasn't there. Ayumu basked in this silence for as long as he possibly could before he would have to get ready for school.

He carefully packed a bentou lunch for himself, making sure to pack an extra, a decoy, to decieve his little reporter into thinking that he only brought one; so while she stole that one, he would eat his own, making sure to keep this one to himself.

The detective wrapped his own lunch differently than usual, trying to make positively sure that Hiyono wouldn't recognize it. When he finally got out the door and on the way to school, the quite obnoxious silence perturbed him. He hadn't seen Hiyono at all the whole morning, and she's usually the first human being he sees except for Madoka, if he would even venture to call her human.

Even when he entered the doors of the school, there was no sign of the hyperactive teenager anywhere. He was suspicious, she had to be up to something, but then again, maybe she was just caught up in her Christmas plans again. Out of personal reassurance, Ayumu chose to believe that she was just off somewhere doing her Hiyono thing, whatever it was, while he enjoyed the rare silence for once.

He droned through most of his morning classes, pretending he was paying attention for the sole sake of relishing in a Hiyono-less day. Whoa. Hiyono-less day...

The longer he tried to relish in this newfound peace, the more it disturbed him. As he thought about it, Hiyono had ingrained herself so deeply into his daily routine that it felt empty, strange, dead, and just plain wrong without her hanging around. Since when had he grown so accustomed to her? His mind wandered. Some part of his subconscious acknowleged that he had actually admitted that to her once, either in reality or in a dream.

While everyone bustled about, overjoyed with the fact that, not only was it Friday, but it was only ten more days after today until Christmas. Everyone was bouncing their Christmas plans and ideas back and forth, trying to obtain some clues as to what to buy for their friends' Christmas presents.

Oh crud. The detective scowled, sourly reminded of the fact that he had not even begun Christmas shopping, nor did he want to or intend to. Then again, if he didn't, he would never hear the end of it, from Madoka AND Hiyono. Now the question was: What on earth was he supposed to get them?

To be honest, he expected to let Hiyono take him somewhere to find something for Madoka and just call it that. But Hiyono was really hard to shop for. Ayumu Narumi knew plain well that Hiyono Yuizaki would fawn over coals if he had given them to her, which was exactly the quality that made her so difficult to shop for. He couldn't just get her anything and be satisfied with himself. He wanted to get her something she wanted and something she could use.

Although she would probably faint over a nice or even not-so-nice present of food, food never lasted long, especially around Hiyono. It was a pain just trying to get a bite of his bentou most of the time. If Ayumu was perfectly honest with himself, he wanted to get something for Hiyono that would last forever, something that would last much longer than food or other things that could rip, tear, and break.

As he overheard a gaggle of girls talking about what they wanted for Christmas, he shook his head at their ideas. Oh heavens, those ideas were so stupid! He knew he wouldn't be able to get anything that he would hear in a conversation here.

To keep his mind off his predicament, Ayumu restrained a sigh of content as he made his way to the newspaper room to eat his bentou while Hiyono, if she was even there, devoured the decoy he had so cleverly concocted.

When he reached the door, he opened it and walked inside, without knocking or anything. To his surprise, or rather, lack of surprise, there was no one there. The empty newspaper room seemed as cold and dank as the distasteful cloud covering outside. Ayumu briefly set down his bookbag on the table and glanced in any possible place that a probably-bored newspaper reporter would be hiding, just waiting for him to come in so she could scare the living daylights out of him just to see him jump.

Slightly disappointed to find the room empty, the brunet turned around, picking up his backpack and walking out of the room. He closed the door behind him as he made his way up to the only other place that she could be: the roof.

When he stepped out onto the room, the only thing he was greeted by was the nipping wind that blew his dark cocoa-colored hair into his face. Shaking his hair out of his face, he glanced around again for the sneaky little reporter, to no avail, and sat down on the roof, resigning himself alone to eat his bentou. If it wasn't for his paining hunger and complaining stomach, he knew he would rather be sleeping. However, this time, at least, maybe he could eat in peace.

He dug into his backpack, casually searching for his bentou lunches. Pencils, books, anonymous random objects, among other things. As he searched through again, he realized the fatalistic truth.

His bentou lunches...had disappeared.

---

Meanwhile, Hiyono sat at the table in the newspaper room, commending herself on a minor job well done as she savorly devoured the last of both of Ayumu's bentou lunches, using the brain food to concoct a plan for her revenge on her best friend and most cunning enemy.

**What'd ya guys think? Man, I really got to get to bed earlier...I'm beat. But yeah, so I'll talk to you guys tomorrow for the Third Day! Tootles and God bless you guys!**


	3. Three Mistletoe

**Chapter Three! I'm tired, G'night all!**

"So he actually knows about the whole thing already? We were the only three to know about it, so how could he-"

"We gotta remember, Ryoko, this is Ayumu Narumi we're talking about. Underestimating him would spell our doom." the small silver voice answered the athlete's comment.

"We all agreed that this was to be top secret. No one was supposed to find out, including Narumi. Hiyono..." the track star's reprimanding tone turned to the little reporter, along with a skeptical look and slightly raised eyebrows.

Hiyono grumbled to herself, completely oblivious to her friends' conversation as she nibbled on a bag of potato chips. She, Rio, and Ryoko had gone to a nearby fast food restaurant that Saturday morning. The whole plan was to figure out the plan, now that Mr. Ace Detective knew their intentions, and perhaps meanwhile get a tad bit of Christmas shopping done.

Since Narumi had foiled her master plan, Hiyono couldn't seem to stop plotting on how to mend the plan and take revenge on her best friend. Even when Rio and Ryoko had tried to talk to her, she spaced a little.

As Hiyono finished munching on a potato chip, she nearly jumped up, "I got it!"

A bit surprised themselves, the pint-sized mastermind and the soft-hearted tomboy stared at Hiyono, waiting for the malicious little reporter to spill her scheme. They didn't have to wait long, the Queen of Mischief herself began to relay her strategy in a hissing whisper only loud enough for her fellow conspiritors to hear. Both girls listened intently to Hiyono's plan, fully knowing that Hiyono's wrath of revenge against her partner would be much more powerful than anyone would expect from her normally.

When Hiyono had finished explaining her design, Rio nearly squealed with delight before leaning her chin in her palm and twirling a lock of silver hair around her finger.

Ryoko however, stared at Hiyono with a strange expression on her face. Honestly, she knew Hiyono could be vindictive, but this was pretty big, and the kind of thing that only Hiyono could think up. Ryoko sighed gently, pondering on whether or not she should help her friend and go through with the plan. The short-haired brunette couldn't help asking, "Hiyono, are you sure this is a good idea?"

An evil smirk played on Hiyono's cream-colored face, "Oh don't worry about it, Takamachi-san, it'll be fine! Plus, you can bale out at any time if you want. And I know you won't admit it if your life depended on it, but I know you like Asazuki-kun. Doesn't this make your job easier?"

Ryoko blinked a few times, "But, I don't want it to be like that!"

Hiyono shrugged, "So go out and run."

Hiyono's answer seemed so simple, and Ryoko knew that Hiyono was probably right. It would be fine, it gave Rio a couple daydreams, and it seemed an adequate plan for Hiyono to take revenge on Little Narumi, if he didn't find out about the plan beforehand, that is.

With that, the three girls were back out on the street and searching for Christmas presents they could afford. Hiyono frequently forced herself to stop ogling at all the pretty and shiny things she couldn't afford. Looking at all of it seemed much more awkward when one walked around with two Blade Children, experienced and quite involved in murder scenes or attempted murder cases. Either way, these two were her friends and she had to make the outing good, whether she allowed herself to look at all the overpriced Christmas gifts or not.

After looking around for a few hours, Hiyono finally came upon what she had set out to buy, "Aha!"

Both Rio and Ryoko looked up from scouring different shelves and approached her to see how profitable her find was.

The newspaper girl grinned at her discovery, along with the fact that she could actually afford it. Eagerly, Hiyono purchased her findings and the girls met one last time outside the store to go over the plan one more time before going their separate ways.

Now, all Hiyono had to do was take the stuff home and wait for a while. Wait a second. If she took it home, then there would still be a chance of Ayumu Narumi finding out about it. At this realization, Hiyono turned around and ran back towards her friends.

"Takamachi-san! Rio-chan! Wait up a second!"

Her friends turned around and waited for her to catch up. When the caramel-haired senior reached them, she held the purchased bag out to Ryoko, "Here, Takamachi-san! Maybe it'd be best if you held onto it for now! I know Narumi-san would find it if I took it with me."

Ryoko silently took the bag and gave a small responding wave to Hiyono's extravagant one as the detective's sidekick slowly disappeared out of sight.

---

When Ryoko finally walked in the door, she dropped the bag on the floor and flopped back into her bed. Man, this was getting a little over the top. She was totally for it until Ayumu Narumi caused them to be in need of a new plan. Now she wasn't so sure anymore.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Ryoko ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes. This was getting a little too deep now. All Ryoko could do was hope that Hiyono knew what she was doing with all of this.

---

"You're late." his obnoxiously quiet voice uttered as he opened the door for his assistant to come into his house.

Hiyono shook her head vigorously, "Not late, Narumi-san! I casually arrived right when I wanted to!"

His half-lidded eyes showed he wasn't at all convinced, "I called you two hours ago."

Hiyono internally gave a happy sigh. Yes, things were going perfectly, and she mentally commended Narumi-san for thinking of her.

"Stupid girl, what are you going to do with sprigs of mistletoe?"

Hiyono's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. She smoked, pointing an accusing finger at him, "How did you know anything about--uh...yeah."

Ayumu shrugged nonchalantly, "Simple. You looked up where to find mistletoe from the school's computer yesterday. It's still in the history."

The reporter fumed, "Narumi-san is a deadly evil SNOOPY dictator!"

The Narumi's lips quirked, "Oh, so I was right."

Hiyono clamped her hand over her mouth in horror to keep herself from saying any more.

The brunet shook his head, "You know, I must say that this is one of your most stupid ideas ever. I honestly don't see the point of your Christmas party and your mistletoe or whatever. Stupid girl, I think you're wasting your time."

Furious and disappointed, Hiyono didn't say any more for the rest of the time she was at Ayumu's house, which was only a few minutes. Hiyono Yuizaki excused herself and told him that she was expected at her own home at the moment, even though truthfully no one would be there.

With that, she headed back home without another word to her partner, who was now getting just a tad bit anxious about how silent she was on the way out. He wouldn't admit it, but any observer knew he may have just been a tad bit worried.

Now it was war. Hiyono was determined to take her revenge double-time, and she wouldn't rest until her best friend payed for ruining her plans. Starting now, she would have to start thinking more deviously.

**Yeah, Ayumu's a little bit of a jerk here, but I don't think he means to be. Many would say that he honestly doesn't know what the whole mistletoe thing was about and he has no idea what's wrong with Hiyono. Some would say he knows a lot more than he lets on...What do you guys think? See ya tomorrow everybody! Tootles and God bless ya!**


	4. Four Christmas Trees

**Read on, my friends!**

Rio's eyes glimmered brightly, taking in all the surrounding lights and the Christmas decorations. She had been doing this since she had left in the morning to scour the town. Now she had started walking back to Eyes' place, and at eight o'clock at night her mission was still to be finished.

When Rio walked in the door to Eyes' place, she glanced around, searching eagerly for the young pianist. In doing so, she noticed the exclusive lack of Christmas decorations. Depressed at the lack of even a Christmas tree, Rio decided that not only was she going to go through with Hiyono's plan, she was going to play out her own. Her cute little smile turned a tad bit creepy as she quickly thought up her plan. Anyone who knew something about her plan would have been sympathetic to Eyes Rutherford in some way or another.

Now that Eyes wasn't home, it would be the perfect time to set her plan into motion.

---

"Narumi-san, what about this one?" Hiyono hugged a pine, watching for Ayumu's reaction with eager eyes and a puffed lip. Ayumu glanced at the tree, then at Hiyono, "Stupid girl, there's no way that thing will fit into the apartment."

Hiyono restrained a growl from her throat. She had to keep playing like everything was normal. Right now, it was Rio's faze of the plan, so Hiyono just had to keep it cool. It proved difficult, however, especially when her detective kept spoiling her plans and she had to keep controlling her urge to put him through more aggravation than just her hand puppets.

She sniffed at him and walked over to a more petite tree, about four feet tall, "What about this, Narumi-san?"

Ayumu stated flatly, "It takes up too much room."

Hiyono paused to place her hands on her hips, "Narumi-san, why do you hate the idea of a Christmas tree so much?"

When Ayumu didn't answer, Hiyono finally went up to a tiny tree that looked like a miniturized version of a normal tree. A bit annoyed, she pouted, "Seriously, Narumi-san."

He studied the tree for a moment, then raised his eyebrows as the corners of his mouth pulled into an almost-impressed mock frown, "Yeah, that'll do."

---

Ryoko sighed heavily, her arms crossed, tapping her foot on the ground, "You're doing it wrong, idiot."

"Ow, Ryoko!" the redhead whined as the athlete's foot made contact with his calf. Bending down to massage his leg, he glared up at her, "What do you mean, I'm doing it wrong?"

Ryoko took the Christmas ornament out of his hands and hung it correctly on one of the tree branches. Kousuke stood and leaned over a little to study what she did, adjusting his tinted glasses on his nose, "But, that's exactly how I-"

"Shut up." she chastised as her fist collided with the side of his head. Scowling and rubbing his head, he questioned, "Has it become an obsession of yours to keep beating me up like this?"

Ryoko aimed her next punch at his head again, but instead put her fist down and picked up another Christmas ball and hung it on the tree. Kousuke crossed his arms, watching her, "I don't see why you made me come over if you were going to end up doing all of it yourself anyway."

The brunette scoffed, "Just shut up, Kousuke, and get out the star for me."

With a heavy sigh of frustration, Kousuke reached down toward the back of the tree to pick up a box with the star inside. When he picked it up, he noticed a small bag tucked behind the tree. Curious, he put the star back on the floor and picked up the bag. He dug into the contents of the bag and pulled them out. His expression was of immense confusion as he looked at Ryoko, waiting for her attention to shift to him.

As she finished putting a transparent icicle ornament on the tree, she hissed, "If you're just going to stand there, then why don't you just go ho-" her statement was cut off when she actually looked over at him and the contents in his hands.

She was silent for a while, her face growing quite red. She stuttered, "Uh...umm..."

Kousuke watched her for a few moments before asking, "Ryoko, what were you going to use the mistletoe for?"

Ryoko took a few moments to recover and turned around abruptly, slowly regaining her pride, "It's just another one of Hiyono's stupid plans, that's all."

Kousuke gave a slight nod of understanding, one that could almost be taken as disappointment, "Oh."

He then used his free hand to stroke his chin in thought as he pieced the puzzle together, "So Jou-chan is going to use this stuff to sabotage Little Narumi?"

Ryoko turned to look at him, "What do you think?"

Kousuke's wonderment turned to mischevious satisfaction, "I'm in."

---

"I still don't understand why you didn't just get a fake one. They last longer and don't leave needles everywhere." Ayumu Narumi commented.

Hiyono stepped back to admire the cute little tree now standing on the dresser, her expression passionate and her eyes sparkling with what she called Christmas spirit, "Because, Narumi-san! You can't have real Christmas cheer with a fake tree! A real Christmas tree leaves the heart so light and gives the whole house the smell of Christmas!"

Ayumu simply scanned his eyes over the trail of pine leaves from the door, all around the house, and finally to the dresser. Hiyono puffed, "So, it makes a tiny mess, but it brings joy and happiness, Narumi-san!"

Hiyono sighed happily, "Now, for the decorations."

The Narumi raised an eyebrow, "You mean we have to decorate it?"

Hiyono growled, "Of course, Narumi-san! Haven't you ever seen a real Christmas tree before?"

Ayumu didn't answer. He knew that Hiyono would end up dragging him to her place and showing him the tree at her own house.

---

Sure enough, here he was standing in front of the Yuizaki Christmas tree. It was a nicely-sized tree, the perfectly-dubbed Christmas tree, about six and a half feet tall. It was covered in the brightest lights that one could find for a Christmas tree and the poor tree looked almost as if it was weighed down by all the ornaments on the branches. However, it did smell nice, to Hiyono anyway, and it did seem to have a homy feel to it. Hiyono grinned proudly, "His name is Jubilee."

Ayumu studied it for a moment, then commented, "Stupid girl, there's nothing on the top."

Hiyono crossed her arms in a pout, "I can't reach to put the crown up there. It's too high."

Suddenly, Hiyono gave a little gasp, "Wait a second, Narumi-san! If you didn't know anything about decorating a Christmas tree, then how do you know that there has to be something on top?"

The chocolate-haired young man didn't answer once again and eyed the top of the tree. He sighed, "Now where's this crown, you stupid girl?"

Hiyono gave a light squeal and plucked the crown off the desk and handed it to him. Ayumu took a few moments to look at it before he reached up to put it on the top. His height made him so close to the top of the tree, but it fell short by a couple inches. As he tried, in deep concentration, to put the crown on the tree, Hiyono stood by, cheering, "Go, Narumi-san! You can do it! Almost there! Yes, yes, yes! No! Yes!"

Ayumu inwardly growled as he tried one more time, nearly slipping the crown onto the crown of the tree. Hiyono exclaimed, "Yes! Narumi-san! You did it!"

Her exclamation threw off his concentration and caused him to temporarily lose his balance. When his arm got caught up in some Christmas lights, he reached out and easily found the desk for support. However, he had to reach around Hiyono, who in turn lost her balance and grabbed the Christmas lights wrapped around Ayumu's arm. To prevent from both himself and her falling, Ayumu clasped onto her hand and pulled her up abruptly.

Hiyono found herself merely two inches away from her best friend's face, her whole body a couple inches from his. Not only that, somehow they had gotten themselves, or she had gotten them, entirely tangled up in the Christmas lights, temporarily making them both unable to get out. Hiyono could feel the warmth coming to her face as Ayumu stared at her with a blank expression.

She gulped, able to feel his hot breath on her face. The lights, still shining, created a rather strange environment and ultimately a big distraction. Ayumu spoke, a bit quieter, "It was your fault, stupid girl. Now we have to get out. And just so you know, I'm not decorating that tree when you're around."

With that, he disentangled himself from her and sighed, knowing that he would probably be the one to fix the lights and the crown. As she tried to do something to fix the lights, he asked, "Why a crown?"

Ayumu never got his answer and his question was left to freeze. Hiyono was too busy thinking about her plan to even notice his question.

---

Rio sighed happily, stepping back to admire her work, just as Eyes walked through the door. He glanced at her and around the room before giving her a very suspicious questionable look, "Rio?"

Rio smiled and scampered over to him, "Look, Eyes! Isn't it beautiful?"

Eyes walked over to it and examined it for a minute, "It has no lights, Rio."

The silver-haired imp gasped, suddenly remembering what she had forgotten, "Oh no! I knew I forgot something! Ughhh..."

Eyes continued to study the Christmas tree before turning back to his loud little friend, "It's artificial."

Rio's eyes went to the ground, "I couldn't afford a real one, and it's much easier to put together."

The pianist watched the tree intensely, before admitting, "I suppose it's alright."

The young girl lit up, "Aw, thank you, Eyes! Oh, yeah, I just remembered..." she folded her hands together and pleaded, "Can we please use the ballroom for a Christmas party, Eyes, pleeeaasse?"

**Tired again, catch you all tomorrow!**


	5. Five Chess Pieces

**Short chapter, number five, read on.**

"Move it, Kousuke! You're going too slow!" Ryoko dictated. Kousuke gave a frustrated growl and pedaled faster. As usual, Ryoko decided to hitch a ride on his bike. Rio had organized a meeting at Eyes' place, inviting only Ryoko and Kousuke, without Hiyono's knowledge.

The meeting had something to do with something that Rio had come up with that didn't require Hiyono's aid. Kousuke didn't know much of any of the details, all he knew is that this had something to do with Rio's own little scheme that had something to do with Hiyono's scheme against Ayumu.

He didn't really have any desire whatsoever to intrude into Hiyono and Ayumu's little spats, but if it had anything to do with giving Ayumu a hard time and creating mind games, he was totally in.

Kousuke put on the breaks as he stopped outside Eyes' building. When they had arrived at Eyes Rutherford's usual room with the piano, Kousuke and Ryoko found Eyes and Rio already inside. Kousuke gave a slightly amused scoff at Rio, "Oh, so now Rutherford's a part of this little conspiracy?"

The pianist shifted his blue eyes to Kousuke, but didn't say anything. Rio pointed to a couch, gesturing for them to sit down. When they were seated, Rio began.

"Alright, so Hiyono is planning a Christmas party, and she wants to use the mistletoe, along with a bucket of paint, silly string, shaving cream, and honey, along with anything else she comes up with, to undermine Little Narumi."

Eyes shifted his gaze to Rio, "She is vengeful and lovesick, I take it."

Kousuke rolled his eyes, "If she's not just taking her head-over-heels obsession just a little too far."

His comment earned an elbow in the ribs from Ryoko. Once Kousuke had recovered, Rio continued, "So, now I have concocted a plan for Hiyono to let her scheme play out, but I expect a slightly different ending."

Eyes studied Rio for a moment from under his white bangs, "You intend to sabotage the reporter girl's sabotage with your own, initiating a different solution."

Ryoko listened for a while, before speaking up herself, "So how will this plan benefit us?"

Rio smiled gleefully, "We can get credit for outsmarting young Ayumu Narumi, his little reporter, and having a great Christmas along the way!"

Kousuke nodded agreeably, before asking eagerly, "Okay, so what's the plan?"

Eyes merely sat back and observed as Rio pulled out a chess board from seemingly out of nowhere and dug out five chess pieces from her pocket. Using the five chess pieces and positioning them on the board, she laid out for her comrades the blueprint of her plans. Eyes remained relatively uninterested considering that all they needed from him was permission to use the ballroom in the lower level of the building. He glanced back every now and then to see Rio dubbing the King, 'Ayumu', the Queen, 'Hiyono', the Knight, 'Ryoko', the Bishop, 'Rio', and the Pawn, 'Kousuke'.

This initiated a commotion from a certain redhead who didn't exactly enjoy being dubbed a pawn. His rant was promptly ended by his companion's foot jamming down on his own.

After Rio had explained the plan, she, Ryoko, and Kousuke agreed to begin the first phase of the plan on the following day while Eyes secured the ballroom for them on the day that Hiyono made the Christmas Party: Christmas, of course.

With that, the meeting was adjourned and the group dispersed back into their seemingly normal lives.

---

Hiyono growled, still trying to keep concentration but failing miserably. Ayumu was totally creaming her. When her second to last piece fell, she mumbled, "And all the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

Ayumu lifted his brown eyes to hers, "Stupid, you have to anticipate your opponent's moves in advance."

Hiyono growled indignantly, "I can't even concentrate let alone anticipate when you keep being a jerk!"

Ayumu rolled his eyes and blew his hair out of his face. Hiyono turned her nose up at him and scoffed, "Narumi-san is truly a heartless jerk."

Ayumu merely stared at her as if he had heard this a million times before. Finally, he sighed, "Do you want to finish the game or not?"

The young girl in question growled and turned back to face the board, "I don't even like chess, I hope you know that." as she began to play once again, the Queen, her last piece, cornered by his black pieces.

**Really short, but oh well! I kinda came up with a blank this chapter, so it was really hard trying to get something together real quick after work that would work, so voila! See you guys tomorrow! God Bless ya!**


	6. Six Blood Red Stockings

**I'm so sorry, you guys! REALLY long story! I hope to post 3-4 chapters tomorrow or Monday so I can catch up! I REALLY wanna finish this thing by Christmas! Kinda short chapter, read on!**

Ayumu Narumi never wore red socks. Especially strangely large ones with fake white fur at the top. Yet, here he was, staring at three stockings that Hiyono held in her hands. When he asked what they were for, he was completely ignored as Hiyono stepped through the front door to the apartment and began searching for anything close to a mantle to hang the stockings from.

He raised his eyebrow at her, finally asking again, "What are those?"

Hiyono temporarily halted her search and turned around to face him, an overly innocent grin on her lips, "They're stockings."

Ayumu shook his head, "Stupid girl, I know what they are, but what are you doing with them and why are they here?"

Hiyono inspected a large wooden dresser, "You have no stockings and no fireplace, so naturally I have to get them for you."

Ayumu didn't have to ask the next question, Hiyono knew by the look in his eyes what it was. She growled at him, "Because, Narumi-san! You have to get into the spirit of Christmas!"

The detective gave a sigh and allowed his sidekick to inspect the more public sections of his house, hanging like an ominous cloud in the doorway to make sure she stayed relatively out of trouble. She buzzed around the house, trying to find the perfect place to hang the stockings. The little hunter finally found the perfect place for the stockings, but Ayumu shook his head, a rather aggravated expression on his face. When she gave him the puppy dog eyes, he exhaled and trudged slowly over.

"It's too high, stupid girl."

Hiyono pouted, her hands planted on her hips, "It is not, Mr. Scrouge! You could reach it, and if you're gonna be all 'Bahumbug' about it, I'll just bring a chair over here and stand on it!"

Ayumu deadpanned, "You'll get hurt."

In response, his companion stuck her tongue out and raspberried him, saying nothing else as she strutted towards the kitchen to retrieve a chair. Ayumu watched her, expressionless as she dragged the chair over to the very high and very dusty shelf. When she stood on the chair, she glanced down to smirk at her naturally unspirited friend before she concentrated on her work.

Ayumu watched her like a schoolchild watching the clock, just waiting for that minute-hand to turn. As Hiyono finished carefully hanging the stockings from the shelf, she stepped back as far as she could on a chair to admire her work. Seeing an obvious flaw, she leaned in to blow all the dust from the shelf.

The dust billowed into a disturbed cloud, tickling her nose and causing her to sneeze. In turn, of course, the sneeze caused her to lose her balance on the chair and fall towards the floor. Ayumu quickly stepped forward to catch her before she hit the floor. When he caught her, her sudden weight nearly causing him to crash to the ground himself, he stared down at her for a while with annoyed expectation. After a few moments of silence as Hiyono stared back at him, he spoke, completely letting go of her so she fell the rest of the way to the floor, "I told you."

Hiyono nearly squealed and harrumphed as she fell to the floor because of her lack of balance. When she stood to her feet and brushed herself off, Ayumu asked, staring at the stockings, "Why the third one?"

Hiyono glanced back up at the stockings. One had Ayumu's name, or pet name, rather, according to Hiyono, stitched delicately onto the furry white cuff. On one side of Ayumu's stocking was one that had Madoka's name stitched on it, but the third, on the other side of Ayumu's stocking, had no name stitched on it.

The caramel-haired young female stared at the floor, her voice low, "Um, in case Kyotaka-san came back before Christmas."

Ayumu glanced back up at the third stocking in disdain. His brother didn't deserve a stocking. Not after he left them all like that.

---

Rio gazed at her masterpeice, cooing, "Aww, it's so beautiful!"

Ryoko stood beside her, observing, "They're all very pretty, Rio, but..."

Rio pulled her finger to her lips and shushed her friend, "We don't want him to know."

The athlete grinned, "So you think that Kousuke won't notice that he doesn't have a stocking?"

A shrug in response, "Even if he does, he wouldn't get anything."

"So it's just you, me, and Eyes who have stockings? You think Eyes is even going to use it? He has so much money, so what would he get as a present that he couldn't get normally?"

Rio didn't answer, only pouted as she thought over this. She was too busy thinking to hear the door creak open.

---

"Could you stop humming that already?" Ayumu growled. Hiyono puffed smugly, "No. The Grinch Song fits you too well. It should be your theme song or something. Yeah! You're a monster, Mr. Grinch! Your heart's an empty hole! Your brain is full of spiders and you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Griiiinch!" she sang in a deep, malevolent voice.

"Hn. That song's even stupider than your usual one."

Hiyono growled, punching his arm with both her puppets, "Take that, Mr. Grinch!"

Yuizaki Hiyono was now standing next to Ayumu in the Narumi kitchen while Ayumu fixed something to eat. When Ayumu didn't respond, Hiyono withdrew and tried to excuse herself to the bathroom like she normally would. When she arrived inside the bathroom, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Rio's number. When there was no answer, she dialed again.

This time, someone answered, but it wasn't Rio.

It was a heavy, husky voice that ran shivers down spines, "If you ever want to see the Blade Children alive again," he laughed, "for a couple minutes, tell Ayumu Narumi to come ALONE to Warehouse D at the dock by the harbor."

**Mwahahahhaaa! Cliffhanger! But don't worry, this time I'll give you a preview...**

**PREVIEW: An exploration into all of the verses in the Narumi-I mean, the GRINCH song. This should be a rather amusing mix with a dash of adventure and a pinch of mystery. On top of that, despite all the set-backs, both Hiyono's and Rio's plans are just about in play, and the mechanics will be revealed...maybe.**

**See you all hopefully ASAP!**


	7. Seven Grinch Song Verses

**Oki-doki. Wow, this was longer than I expected. I hope to get at least one or two more chapters up today, so hopefully I'll get to do that.**

The apartment was still too quiet. Hiyono paced around the house in an irregular shape, due to furniture placement, waiting for any signal of Ayumu Narumi. Okay, so maybe this whole thing had been a mistake. She had never thought that her plan could lead her friends into danger with the Hunters.

After she had hung up the phone, she had opened the door to find her friend standing there watching her with strangely knowing eyes, though those same eyes did not look one bit happy.

So Ayumu had gone off, alone, to recover the Blade Children, probably Rio and Ryoko, who had been kidnapped, leaving Hiyono alone in the apartment with nothing to do but worry.

Wait, with nothing to do...hmm.

This would be the perfect time for her to spruce up the Narumi house for Christmas. Nobody was home, Ayumu would expect her to be worrying or coming after him, and he could always call her if something went wrong.

He had some nerve though, standing by the bathroom door listening to her conversation, then going out to fight the Hunters without her. Hiyono walked up to the stereo and turned it on, placing one of her Christmas CD's inside and pressing 'Play'.

When the speakers began spitting out the Grinch song, Hiyono sang along, chuckling at how much it reminded her of Ayumu.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

You really are a heel.

You're as cuddly as a cactus,

You're as charming as an eel.

Mr. Grinch.

You're a bad banana

With a greasy black peel.

That boy was a heel all right. He definitely was not a teddy bear, that's for sure, even though sometimes he looked like something she wanted to cuddle. As far as charming goes, the eel was more polite than he was. Hiyono pondered the bad banana though. When she thought of how slippery Ayumu could be, however, then it made perfect sense.

---

Ayumu stood at the door of the warehouse, pondering on whether he could go through the front door like a normal person or crawl through somewhere else like a theiving muskrat. Muskrat? Okay, not the suavest of terms, but the number of syllables seemed right. There was most likely a booby trap behind the door, but then again, the perpetrator probably expected him to expect the booby trap, and therefore put one behind every other possible entrance. However, what if they expected him to think that and DID put a trap behind the door.

He stood there and thought for a moment, scanning the building with his eyes before finally realizing their plan. He scowled at their sense of humor. There would be traps behind all the entrances but a certain specific one. How quaint.

---

With a couple wreaths and anonymous Christmas decorations in her hands, Hiyono busied herself trying to find somewhere for all the Christmas stuff she brought, all the while making sure to listen to the song.

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.

Your heart's an empty hole.

Your brain is full of spiders,

You've got garlic in your soul.

Mr. Grinch.

I wouldn't touch you, with a

thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.

Oh yeah. This part was totally Ayumu Narumi. There was not a movie that she could make him watch could make him cry. There was nothing she could seemingly do to break that exterior, but then again, maybe there was no exterior to break and his heart was an empty hole. His brain, brilliant though it was, didn't seem to be used all that much other than emergencies and the times in which he wanted to outsmart her. Usually, all it was doing was napping. So, judging by how often it was used to its full potential, she could definitely see the spiders and cobwebs in there.

Because of how much he cooked, Hiyono could also nearly smell the garlic, which of course, reminded her of food and how hungry she now was. Ayumu had never finished making their lunch/dinner.

The touch part, though, she could see reversed. It seemed more like he would not touch HER with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole, if he had any choice between her punching him or falling into him at one point or another.

---

He couldn't believe he was doing this. Hiyono would have a cow, or at least die of laughter until she had one. Ayumu had somehow found some sturdy boxes in which he could climb up to the roof. As if the roof was not dangerous enough in itself, now he had to find his way to his entrance and somehow get in without breaking his neck, which would probably be the most complicated part.

He used a couple step-like stone structures to somehow squeeze himself down the dark entrance. He gave thanks that this one had steps for the chimney-sweeps.

Once he had made his way entirely inside, the detective could barely see anything at all. Apparently it had been a while since the chimney sweeps had been here last; the spiders and cobwebs were evidence of that. Ironically, the inside of the chimney was much more spacious than its exit, or rather, Ayumu Narumi's entrance.

Once his eyes adjusted, he could vaguely see a few feet below the step he was standing on. This was going to be harder than he thought. He could just imagine how Hiyono would react to entering a building this way. She would either be quite amusingly discontented or go into her secret agent mode. He had to try not to let himself smile at the mental picture of his sidekick with her hair and clothes mussed and her face covered in soot.

---

Hiyono sighed contently, stepping back to observe her work. Man, she was really hungry.

You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch.

You have termites in your smile.

You have all the tender sweetness

Of a seasick crocodile.

Mr. Grinch.

Given the choice between the two of you

I'd take the seasick crockodile.

Hiyono had to wonder if Ayumu ever smiled at all. She imagined that if he did, he would probably have termites in his teeth and crawling in his mouth. Gross. Yep, tender sweetness all right. Seasick crocodile, definitely. Although, she probably would take her Narumi-san over the seasick crocodile unless Narumi-san was being a real jerk that day.

---

When Ayumu finally reached the bottom of the chimney with nearly a crash and a small cloud of soot, he nearly crawled out and stood to his feet, looking around the building. Rio and Ryoko were tied to chairs in the middle of the empty building, their mouths covered with duct tape.

Ayumu walked over and ripped the duct tape from both of their mouths, issuing a painful whine from the younger and an annoyed grunt from the elder. The detective seemed to take his time untying them, asking in the most bland of voices, "Who did it and where is he?"

Rio rubbed her mouth sourly and humphed, "Well, if you hadn't ripped the tape off our mouths, we could've told you sooner!"

Ryoko answered seriously, "He wore a mask. We didn't see his face. He was about an inch taller than you with a medium build. He had a husky voice and he left through the front door."

Rio growled, "He rigged this whole place to blow sky high!"

---

The honey-haired reporter gently lit the candles, being careful not to burn herself as she hummed with the song. Soon the room smelled of pine, homemade cookies, cinnamon, and something else that smelled quite Christmas-like.

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.

You're a nasty, wasty skunk.

Your heart is full of unwashed socks

Your soul is full of gunk.

Mr. Grinch.

The three words that best describe you,

are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk."

Hiyono chuckled. Ayumu's heart probably was full of unwashed socks. She knew that he never really smelt bad, the only thing that smelt really bad was his attitude and his pessimism. Maybe that was the real reason for the dozen candles.

---

Ayumu knew that whoever it was probably had all the exits rigged, so there was only one other way of escaping. He gestured the girls over to the chimney and told them to start climbing. Rio punched his chest, a bit hard for her petit size, "There ain't no way we're going first! You go first! We're both wearing skirts!"

The Narumi rolled his eyes and began climbing, a bit faster now that he got the hang of clammering up and down chimneys. Both Rio and Ryoko had to pinch their nose the further up they went. Rio squeaked in her high voice mixed with the sound of her holding her nose, "This place really stinks!"

Ayumu hissed, "Ignore it and keep climbing if you want to get out of here alive."

---

When she had finished, Hiyono scrounged about the kitchen looking for something to eat.

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch.

You're the king of sinful sots.

Your heart's a dead tomato splot

With moldy purple spots,

Mr. Grinch.

Still humming, Hiyono began to dance around the kitchen, trying to imagine Ayumu big, round, red, and with giant purple splotches. She nearly fell to the ground laughing.

---

When all of them had made it out of the chimney, they scrambled as quickly and carefully as they possibly could across the roof.

---

Hiyono recovered just in time to hear one of her favorite parts.

Your soul is an apalling dump heap overflowing

with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable

rubbish imaginable,

Mangled up in tangled up knots.

Oh yeah. Hiyono could definitely imagine baby Ayumu Narumi not being brought by the stork, but by the garbage collector. Yepyep, definitely.

---

Rio and Ryoko looked over the edge as Rio commented, "You gotta be kidding me."

Ayumu rolled his eyes once more as he jumped from the roof and landed rather softly on the trash bags in the dumpster. With a great amount of hesitation, both Ryoko and Rio finally followed. When they had all gotten out of the trashpit, they began running away from the dock.

---

Hiyono danced while she dug through the refridgerator for something microwavable to eat.

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch.

With a nauseaus super-naus.

You're a crooked jerky jockey

And you drive a crooked horse.

Mr. Grinch.

You're a three decker saurkraut and toadstool

sandwich

With arsenic sauce.

Okay, so maybe she was not as hungry as she thought after all.

---

It was only until after they were all safely on the way home that Ayumu realized that the warehouse had not exploded as reported to him it would.

As quickly as possible, Rio and Ryoko parted ways with the young detective, thanking him for saving them(Rio begrudgingly).

As they turned in seperate directions, Ayumu hurried home, realizing that he had left a nearly-insane hungry girl alone in his house with Christmas decorations.

Ryoko pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.

---

Hiyono gingerly pulled out her cell phone and answered it to the best of her ability with half of a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth, "Ello?"

---

Ryoko answered with a smirk on her face, "Everything went perfectly. How did things go on your end?"

The voice on the other end responded, still sounding as if it was in the middle of chewing something, "It's all set. The plan is in motion."

**What'd you guys think? It's pretty long, but I like the Grinch aspect, so I think I'll write another Spiral fic about the Grinch. I don't think that one will come out until after Christmas though. I still have one more Spiral Christmas fic to write and one Final Fantasy VII Christmas fic to write. Other than this one, though, the others are only one-shots.**


	8. Eight Plans Altogether

**Another relatively short chapter, but oh well. I hope to post one more today, but I don't know if I'll be able to or not.**

"So, Hiyono, now what are the details of this plan of yours?" Ryoko asked, munching on a few potato chips. The girls sat around the coffee table in Hiyono's house the day after the warehouse incident, going over their plans once again.

Hiyono smiled and began to relay her entire plan, "First is the honey. The honey and the shaving cream I can do myself, but the silly string and the bucket of paint I'm going to need help with."

Displaying two bottles of honey, she continued, "Now, when I go to Narumi-san's house on Christmas morning, I'm going to pour his shampoo into his eyedrops bottle and the honey into his shampoo bottle!"

Ryoko blandly retorted, "And hope he doesn't come after you with kitchen knives?"

Hiyono huffed and continued, "Well, that is the first phase of the plan. Now, the second phase is the suit. I'm going to convince Narumi-san to wear a really nice tuxedo, which I'm going to lace with shaving cream that I have already laced with itching powder!"

Ryoko retorted again, "And you think that he won't notice?"

Hiyono cleared her throat and explained the next phase, "Now, Phase Three is the silly string. What we'll do is have spaghetti for the main course and use very bland-colored silly string and low lighting and mix Narumi-san's spaghetti with a large helping of silly string!"

Ryoko raised her eyebrow, crossing her long legs, "You think he's going to eat it?"

Hiyono growled and continued with her last phase, "The final phase is the bucket of paint. When Narumi-san goes outside and I follow for some fresh air, I will make sure he's in the doorway and I will point up to the mistletoe, at which time, Rio will pull a string to release the bucket of paint secured above Narumi-san's head." Hiyono laughed giddily, "Ahaha! It's brilliant!"

This time, the smaller girl piped in, "Don't you think he would see the paint beforehand and get out of the way?"

The conspirator crossed her arms and pouted, "I'd like to see you come up with a better plan."

After a moment, Rio creatively said nothing until Hiyono found a change of subject, "Oh yeah! Takamachi-san, how did you get Asazuki-kun to do that voice over the phone?"

Rio giggled, "She threatened him with pain."

Hiyono suddenly nodded, immediately understanding, "So Narumi-san actually came down the chimney?" she chortled.

Rio nodded, giggling herself. Hiyono laughed, "That explains why he was covered in soot and looked so angry!"

For a moment, the girls laughed, then Hiyono continued, "I high-tailed it out of there as quickly as I could."

After a few minutes of silent cookie and potato chip-munching, Ryoko rose to her feet, pulling Rio up with her, "Well, I guess we'll see you soon then."

Hiyono nodded. The two girls wished Hiyono 'Good luck' with her plan, while obviously trying not to laugh, and headed on their way.

As they walked down the sidewalk, the tall brunette inquired, "So, what were your plans about?"

Rio's face turned nearly malicious, "My plan has four phases as well."

Ryoko waited, interested in hearing it. Rio didn't keep her waiting long, "Phase One: The Foil. When we 'help' Hiyono with the food for the party and the spaghetti, we make sure that Ayumu's food does not have silly string in it, but we use hot peppers and ultra ultra hot sauce on Hiyono's food and only fill her water halfway, without using ice, thus forcing her to make her way to the kitchen. Naturally, Little Narumi will follow her, leading to Phase Two of my plan. Phase Two: The Trip-Up. When Hiyono goes running into the kitchen looking for something to drink, we'll make sure to place the cold drinks in the highest place possible that she can't reach. Frantic, she'll get something to stand on, where we'll conveniently put an unstable stool in the corner. When she gets on it, it won't be able to hold her weight, and she'll fall, where naturally Little Narumi will rush to keep her from falling. However, we'll have the kitchen floor so conveniently wet, that they'll both fall to the floor."

Ryoko gave Rio an alarmed look, "Rio, isn't that really dangerous? And what would it do?"

Rio held up her hand, "Easy, Ryoko, I'm getting there. And it is dangerous, but what are we involved in that ISN'T dangerous?" she muttered, "Especially with Hiyono around..."

Ryoko sighed and let her finish, "Phase Three: The Plot. When they get up, Hiyono will ask Little Narumi to make her something edible to eat, which he inevitably will. While he makes the food, I'll hide under a nearby food cart and snatch the food before anyone knows what hit them."

Observing her dreamy smirk, Ryoko inquired, "I think that's your stomach talking, Rio."

Rio ignored her and continued with the last phase of the conspiracy, "Finally, Phase Four: The Dance. When Hiyono and Little Narumi walk back out, we'll hit the music and Hiyono won't be able to resist, eventually dragging Little Narumi with her. Little will she know that, during my whole plan, I will have a video camera prompt and recording."

After a few moments, the athlete raised her eyebrows, "So this whole thing is to get material in which you can blackmail Hiyono and Ayumu?"

Rio thought for a moment, "And eat Little Narumi's food, yes."

Ryoko shook her head, hoping that Hiyono had some idea what she was in for.

**Oh my, yes, my plans are incredibly cheesy, but we shall all see that neither Hiyono nor Rio's plans turn out exactly how they expected.**


	9. Nine Bouts of Bad Weather

**Last chapter of the day, guys! I hope to post two up tomorrow and then the last one on Christmas, so I'll see you guys then!**

Somehow, Hiyono had managed to drag him out shopping, again. This time, she was insistant on him being able to fill Madoka's stocking. He felt like they had trudged all over the shopping world in a single day and fought the crowds like they were a stampede of buffalo. He knew that Hiyono could not help herself. She had to stare at all the random pretty things she could not afford. Part of him knew that she was trying to give him hints as to what to get her for Christmas, but he also knew that she was trying to make herself believe that she did not want anything. He knew better. Perhaps he would let her look around just a little bit more.

That is, until he passed an electronics store. The television sets in the window were not what attracted him, but the information broadcasted ON the television sets. He stopped to watch a moment. When Hiyono noticed his absense, she hurried to his side and voiced the information he had just found out, "Ice and Snow? Look, Narumi-san! They're calling for nine whole inches!"

When she looked back at her friend, he had disappeared once more, walking down the sidewalk rather casually as usual when he left her behind. She scrambled to catch up, excusing herself amongst the crowd as she hurried up next to her friend. She frowned, inquiring, "Where are we going, Narumi-san? All the shops are the other way!"

Ayumu answered simply, "We're going home."

Hiyono pouted, "But Narumi-san! We haven't even finished shopping! And it's really far to walk all the way back home!"

Ayumu shook his head, "It'd be even further to walk in the snow."

Hiyono sighed, fully knowing that he was right. She fell back a few steps into walking behind him instead of her usual spot beside him. Suddenly, Ayumu heard a slight gasp behind him as Hiyono grabbed his sleeve and pointed to the sky, "Look, Narumi-san! It's snowing!"

He pulled himself away from her and continued walking, "All the more reason to get home."

However, Hiyono tugged onto his arm and pulled him to a stop, "Narumi-san, won't you even look? It's so beautiful..."

Ayumu didn't lift his gaze to the sky, only tried to pull his arm out of her grasp. Failing to hold onto him, Hiyono rushed in front of him and pleaded, "Oh, please, Narumi-san...can we at least take the way home through the park."

Ayumu shook his head, "It's longer."

After staring in her eyes for a few moments, however, Narumi sighed and gave in, letting the girl drag him across the street and into the park. Hiyono marvelled at nearly everything she saw as it began to cover in snow. Ayumu could see where this little walk would go. She would get sick because she didn't bring a proper coat and he would have to take her home.

"Ah-choo!"

Sure enough. It didn't take long before Hiyono began sneezing. She acted like she was doing alright, but he knew full well between her shivering and her blue lips how cold she was. He gave a slight sigh and stopped at the next bench he saw, "Sit down." he ordered.

Hiyono, not desiring to argue, especially when she got to spend more time outside in the snow, sat down quickly after she wiped the snow off with her bare hand. She cringed at the cold temperature of the snow and began rubbing her hands together, blowing on them to warm them up.

With no prelude, Ayumu took off his coat and sat down beside her, draping the coat over her shoulders. Wrapping the coat tightly around her body, she glanced up at him and smiled thankfully, but quickly frowned, "But, Narumi-san! How will you keep warm?"

Ayumu didn't answer, only leaned forward and folded his hands together, surveying the park, "It isn't so bad, I suppose."

Hiyono watched him for a while, then reached over gently to touch his hands. She pulled back immediately with a slight gasp, "Narumi-san, your hands are freezing!"

Ayumu shrugged, but didn't answer. Both were silent for a few minutes, enjoying or enduring each other's presence and the snow falling. A barely noticable shiver turned Hiyono's gaze back to her friend. He really was cold. Having no idea how to keep her friend warm, Hiyono slowly laid her head on the detective's shoulder, hoping that it would somehow keep him at least slightly warm.

Surprised, Ayumu raised his head to look down at her, "What are you doing?"

Hiyono closed her eyes, giving him a simple answer, "Narumi-san was cold and I didn't know how else to keep him from freezing."

Ayumu didn't respond, only kept his eyes locked on her for a while. After a few minutes of silence, he turned his gaze forward once more and spoke quietly, "C'mon, let's go home."

Hiyono took her head from his shoulder and nodded, "Hai!"

Both stood and began walking back towards the Narumi apartment.

---

Hiyono sniffled again, holding a tissue up to her nose. She now sat on the couch, spreading her legs along its length. It only took a minute for Ayumu to join her in the living room and hand her a mug of hot chocolate, carrying his own in the other hand. Hiyono took the hot chocolate and pulled her legs up to let Ayumu sit down at the other end of the sofa. He took his seat and sipped slowly at his hot chocolate. Hiyono did the same, but slowly lowered it into her lap.

She knew that Ayumu had probably gotten sick between his badly-hidden sniffling and occasional sneezes, and she fully knew that it was probably her fault. Hiyono gently got up and scooted over to Ayumu, finishing off her hot chocolate and setting it down on the small table on the other side of him. He watched her, but did not take much notice until she closed her eyes and snuggled her head into his shoulder.

There wasn't much light in the living room, but thankfully it was more warm light. He looked over at her and asked again, "What are you doing?"

Hiyono nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, "I'm keeping Narumi-san warm."

Seeming almost satisfied with the answer, Ayumu turned to finish his hot chocolate before setting it on the table next to hers and muttering, "My shoulder's not really cold, stupid girl."

The girl coiled her legs around until she could curl up into his lap, her head rested on his chest, "Are you still cold Narumi-san?"

"Hn. You're heavy."

Hiyono growled, threatening to take out her hand puppets, but deciding against it because of their position.

"Narumi-san?"

"Shut up."

"There's nine inches of snow on the ground. Are you still going to walk me home?"

"Of course not. You're going to stay here. Tomorrow's Sunday anyway." he nearly growled.

"But Narumi-san! That would mean-"

"You can sleep on the couch." he interrupted, knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"But-"

"Hush. If you're gonna stay here, especially like this, then I don't want your mouth running like the Tour de France." he cut her off again.

"The Tour de France is biking, Narumi-san." she corrected quietly.

"Whatever." he hissed, "If you're going to be here, then shut your mouth."

Hiyono pouted, but obeyed. He was probably even more exhausted than she was. As she closed her eyes and snuggled against her friend, she realized that she had totally forgotten her brilliant plan and how angry she was with him. Oh well. It was too late for that tonight.

**I'll see you all tomorrow, ne? Tootles and tell me what you think! I thought a chapter about snow would be nice, yesyes. Oki-doke! See ya'll later!**


	10. Ten Christmas Movies

**I really hope to finish this tonight, guys, but I don't know how that's going to hold up...**

Hiyono groaned tiredly, her body slowly awakening from its deep slumber. Her eyes squinted open, taken a good while to adjust to the light. Whoa. She didn't recognize where she was. She rose her arms to rub her eyes and roll over a couple times to wake up her mind. As her brain and body finally came out of sleep enough for her to take in her surroundings, she realized with a gasp where she was.

The reporter jolted to a sitting position and looked around once more. She was in Narumi-san's room! Sleeping in his bed! She glanced down. She was using his blankets and everything!

Now a bit discombobulated, she struggled to remember the previous night, trying to remember the reason she was sleeping in her best friend's bed. Well, at least she was the only one sleeping in his bed. Speaking of which, if she was in his bed, where was he?

Hiyono slowly rose to her feet. The house was dead quiet. She could only hope that Madoka had stayed overnight at her work. Hiyono would hate to see what would happen to Narumi-san and herself if Madoka found Hiyono crawling like a slinky shadow out of Ayumu's bedroom.

As quietly as possible, Hiyono creaked the door open and tiptoed into the kitchen, meandering around the kitchen, living room, and the rest of the house to look for the cranky detective.

She couldn't bring herself to disturb him when she finally found him. He was haphazardly strewn on the sofa, looking extremely exhausted but extremely peaceful. She began to remember slightly what had happened the previous night. After she had fallen asleep, sometime during the night she remembered him trying to remove her from his lap. Her half-asleep mind groaned, disgruntled. She vaguely remembered him standing up, but turning around and stooping over to lift her off the sofa.

He struggled with her weight, adjusting her occasionally and muttering something about her weight and cutting back on the donuts. She had felt herself being carried for a while until she was deposited somewhere else. He gently threw the covers over her and left the room without a word.

Afterword, he apparently had come back out and crashed on the couch. Hiyono knelt beside the couch and watched him sleep. She knew that most people, him especially, would think her strange, but she couldn't help it, he looked so sweet. Wow. Ayumu Narumi? Sweet? She knew that was a complete oxymoron, but it was true. She couldn't bring herself to wake him up, but she could bring her hand up to stroke his russet bangs gently, trying not to disturb him. She sighed, but almost immediately she wanted to take it back. What was she thinking? This was the guy that she so badly wanted to seek revenge on for foiling her plan.

She should be plotting and scheming and carrying out her deathly plot, but instead, she was sitting here stroking the hair of her nemesis. What was the world coming to that she should fall for her arch enemy? Since when did the fabric of society fall apart into a world where heroes as bold as she fell for the supervillains? This would surely not continue and she would surely snap herself out of this folly! His hair was so soft...and he had given up his bed for her to sleep in all night...

"You can stop playing with my hair, you know."

The indecent growl surprised her and she quickly jerked her hand away as Ayumu rolled over so he was no longer facing her. She tilted her head, trying to act innocent, "You're awake?"

"Thanks to you." he hissed.

"Narumi-san! How rude!" she puffed.

"Look, can you NOT go on another rampage and just let me sleep?"

She glared at him in silence, and Ayumu was no stranger to the glare. He could feel it even when he wasn't looking at her. He sighed, "Fine. Here. You can sit at the end."

He moved his feet so she could sit at the end of the sofa, but she declined with an offended grunt, "Narumi-san! I don't want your dirty feet!"

He stared at her for a while, until, defeated, she crawled into the spot by his feet. After a minute of silence, he spoke, "There are nine inches of snow outside. As much as I hate to say it, I don't think you'll be leaving any time soon."

Hiyono didn't answer, and the silence ensued, until she came up with an idea, "Hey! Narumi-san what Christmas movies have you seen?"

Hiyono could nearly hear the raised eyebrow in his voice, "Christmas movies?"

The girl sighed, "Don't answer that."

"I wasn't planning to."

"Narumi-san, where's the remote?"

"How should I know?"

"It's your house, Narumi-san."

"That doesn't mean I actually watch the TV."

Hiyono growled and got off the couch, going over to the TV and turning it on. Hiyono smirked. Just the movie she was hoping it would be. Ayumu groaned grouchily, "What IS it with you and the Grinch?"

The girl looked over and gave him a coy smile that said she knew more than she told, "I'm in love with him."

Ayumu looked up and wrinkled his eyebrows at her before he turned away and dumped his feet in her lap, "You're crazy."

Hiyono frowned at his feet, "Since when am I your footstool?"

"Hn."

During the course of the movie, neither party said another word. Ayumu mentally noted all the audio and continuity errors he could find in the movie, but he knew that Hiyono would probably punch his feet or tickle him or something cruel if he said anything. Come to think of it, what was she doing now?

He shifted his brown eyes down to see her absently running her hands over his socked feet. He decided not to say anything and simply let her watch the movie.

He heard her sigh at the turning point of the movie when...well, not to spoil it for anyone. He closed his eyes. He was too tired to think about how totally sick it was that he was beginning to get used to the feeling of Hiyono massaging his feet. Man, that even SOUNDED weird.

When Ayumu opened his eyes again, Hiyono was restraining a giggle as she watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. All he had to say was that Hiyono thought HIS Christmas tree was pathetic. It least it held ornaments without falling over. Ayumu, however, only became vaguely interested when Hiyono expressed a high liking for Schroeder, the little boy who played the piano. Somehow, it seemed like she somehow identified with something during the parts in which Lucy was pestering Shroeder. By the end of the movie, Hiyono was smiling and immediately he knew that they would probably be sitting on that couch all day.

---

He was right. During the entire course of the day, they had watched Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, A Muppets' Christmas Carol, Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, It's A Wonderful Life, Frosty the Snowman, and finally The Polar Express.

Before The Polar Express began, Hiyono seemed as if she needed to get up to find something to eat or something of the like. However, when she tried to get up from the couch, Ayumu firmly planted his feet on her lap to act like a seatbelt, "Look, if you're going to sit here, don't keep getting up and down."

She turned to give him her golden puppy eyes, "But Narumi-san, I'm hungry!"

Ayumu sighed and got up himself, slowly maneuvering into the kitchen to get her something to eat, "What do you want?"

Hiyono grinned, "How about some popcorn?"

Everything was quiet until she heard him take out the metal popcorn bowl. She basked in the sound of the corn popping on the stove and the glorious smell of the pale kernels golding to perfection. She could smell the hot butter he spread over it and she could hear him fluff the popcorn in the bowl to spread the butter around.

The awesome sounds and smells lulled her into a state of such bliss that she curled up in the middle of the sofa, closed her eyes, and waited.

Suddenly, the smell grew stronger and she felt a presence hanging over her like a heavy cloud with wild wispy dark hair and a black turtleneck on his lanky frame, "Get up."

She groaned and lifted only her head so he could sit down at the end of the couch. When he sat down, she casually plopped her head in his lap and took a handful of popcorn. He scowled down at her, "What did I do to make you think that this is okay?"

Hiyono shrugged, "Narumi-san's too tired and lazy to make me move, and plus, he likes the company."

"Your head's heavy."

Hiyono sighed and gave a slight grunt, "Just watch the movie, Narumi-san."

Ah. Forget the movie. Ayumu Narumi's popcorn is entertainment enough. Each juicy crunchy kernel melted in Hiyono's mouth. Oh yeah. She could SO live like this every day.

By the time the movie was over, it was past ten o'clock at night and both detective and sidekick were fast asleep. The popcorn bowl was sitting on the floor, empty. Hiyono was laying with her feet curled up and her head still on Ayumu's lap. He had his head leaned lazily on his shoulder, his eyelids fluttering slightly. He opened his eyes once. The television was still on, but he didn't have the attention span to figure out what movie was on. His sleepy eyes lowered to the slumbering Hiyono. Who knew that this quiet haphazardly-strewn dreaming infohound could be so loud and obnoxious?

His eyes slid closed. Maybe he'd let her sleep just a little longer.

**Yeah yeah yeah. I don't own any Christmas movies. Well, if you want to be technical...no, I don't own any...I think we might have Rudolph somewhere, but, yeah. I haven't even seen some of those movies, I just did a little research into what are qualified as the best Christmas movies ever. I'd put The Nightmare Before Christmas on there, but I didn't have room and I haven't seen it yet. I also haven't seen Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, or It's A Wonderful Life. I like cartoons. ANYWHO, I hope to post the next chapter up tonight and I hope that works, see ya!**


	11. Eleven Festive Garments

**Sorry guys, it looks like I can't crank out the final chapter until tomorrow. It's gonna be a pretty long one, but it's the last one!**

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, come on, Narumi-san! It's just Christmas dinner!"

"Why would I need to go to one of those?"

"Because you have no family or social life and you need to get out and eat Christmas dinner with someone! And who else to go with, but your extremely adorable, beautiful, talented, and really genius Hiyono Yuizaki!"

Ayumu rolled his eyes, "You can't be 'really genius', you twit."

She huffed, but continued about their business, "What about this one, Narumi-san?"

Ayumu glared at the black fabric, "For the last time, you're NOT getting me into that thing."

"It's just a suit, Narumi-san, it's not gonna sting you." she giggled.

He glared at her, then at the suit. He had no idea what she was up to, but he didn't like it. Especially if it had anything to do with him wearing a suit. She even held up an ugly green thing that he could barely even qualify as a suit. It looked more like some demented peice of vegetation.

However, his reluctance gradually did not hold as strong. Especially when she tried on that dress. She had just tried it on for fun, and he only had a glimpse, but seeing her in something with billows and flows nearly struck him like a lightning bolt.

She also managed to try on two more that were honestly just silly, and she knew it, but she had to try them on anyway. One made her look like something out of an ice cream sundae, and the other was some red frilly thing with lots of poinsettias on it. She did look pretty silly, but the truth was that it didn't look too bad on her. Okay, so maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe he could tolerate it, just once. So he browsed the strange formal shop for some kind of suit that he'd be interested in. He would dig around in his closet, but it seemed like nothing in there fit him anymore. Hiyono had even noticed that he was growing. He had to be at least an inch taller.

However, despite there being a huge amount of suits on the racks, his obstinate self decided that he didn't like any of them, and there was no way he was going anywhere near his brother's closet. His brother, the infamous Kyotaka Narumi, and all his junk should remain dead with him.

---

They finally did manage to return to the Narumi apartment after Hiyono dropped something off at her house. Apparently, the one dress she didn't show him was the one that she bought. He would never understand her, nor any other female for that matter.

By now, the snow had melted just enough for barely tolerable travel. When they entered the door to the apartment and took off their shoes, Hiyono was still pestering him about a suit, because he ended up not getting one. The truth was, his pride had dictated that he didn't like anything there, and that was the excuse he would make.

Almost as soon as she got in the door, the caramel-haired hound snatched up the phone and began dialing. To tell the plain truth, he wasn't interested in who she was talking to whatsoever and made a resolution to take a shower.

Hiyono squealed excitedly when a small voice at the other end answered the phone, "Did you get it?"

Rio squealed in return, "Of course I got it! Hiyono, you gotta see it!"

The reporter gave a giggle, "I'm sure Eyes had no problem getting a suit out of his closet of a thousand of them!"

Rio sighed, "And he had no problem choosing a color. He said that he probably won't even show up. He says it's boring."

Hiyono rolled her eyes, but changed the subject, "So do you know if Ryoko got hers yet?"

The little mastermind thought for a moment before answering, "I think so, why don't you call her? Careful, though. I think she and Kousuke had a little couple spat or something."

Hiyono nodded, "Got it." With that, she hung up and dialed Ryoko's number. The short-haired runner answered, with a bit of tension in her voice. Hiyono cheerfully remarked, "I hope you have your dress, Ryoko!" trying to cheer up her friend.

Ryoko responded that she did, but she didn't tell Hiyono any more, until the reporter asked about Kousuke.

"Yeah, the idiot has his, but I don't know if he's going to use it. Sorry, Hiyono, I gotta go, see ya."

With that, Ryoko hung up. Hiyono frowned at the phone, turned it off, and called Rio back. The two began excitedly chatting about each others' dresses and pointless random junk. It took a few minutes for Hiyono to notice Ayumu standing in the doorway. When she did see him, she did a double-take, "Oh, Rio, that's awesome! I can't-I uh...I'll have to talk to you later, Rio, bye."

When she hung up, she slowly walked over to Ayumu, a bit shocked, "Narumi-san, you-you're wearing-"

"Don't think that this will happen more than once, got that?"

When she was only about a foot away from him, she reached up to stroke her fingers over the fabric of the midnight blue tuxedo. He watched her hands for a minute before his eyes strayed to her. Almost a bit breathless, she whispered, "Narumi-san, where did you-"

"It was my father's."

Hiyono's wide copper eyes popped open, "Your father's? Narumi-san, you haven't ever said anything about your father!"

At that, he turned his face away from her, "And I'd rather not, can we leave it?"

Hiyono slightly nodded and eventually added shakily, barely able to contain a blush, "You look really really handsome, Narumi-san."

Ayumu gazed at her for what felt like hours. Neither said anything. Hiyono took a small step closer and rested her hands against his chest. He continued staring at her, his dark eyes failing to blink. Having no idea what to do, both had each other in an eye-lock. Hiyono could feel her heart pummeling her eardrums, her throat inexplicably dry. All she could do was stand there, her knees and feet, and entire body for that matter, locked in a still position.

Finally, Ayumu tilted his head down and knocked his forehead with hers, his eyes half-lidded, hissing almost tenderly, "You're so stupid."

Riiiiiiiiiing!

Hiyono jumped, whacking Ayumu's head with hers as she rushed to answer her cell phone. She was clearly flustered and had trouble talking straight. From what Ayumu could gather between his head throbbing and her speaking stigmatism, she was talking to Rio or Ryoko about something. Man, right now he had to go change into something normal and take some Tylenol, or better yet, a nap.

When Hiyono finally hung up and took a deep breath, she turned around and growled at the absent Ayumu Narumi. Oh, it was so on. Her thirst for revenge was renewed and she was ready for battle. He had flustered her and thrown her whole internal organization out of whack that she was beginning to wonder if she could ever function correctly again. She wasn't hungry. In fact, her stomach felt like it was getting sick. Now all she had to do was wait until tomorrow for the climax of her vengeance.

**What'd you guys think? Okay, for everyone like me who has trouble distinguishing things, here are the eleven festive garments: The suit Hiyono tried to get Ayumu to try on in the beginning, the green suit she tried to get him to try on, the first dress Hiyono tried on, the ice cream sundae Hiyono tried on, the poinsettia she tried on, the one that she bought, Rio's dress, Eyes' suit, Ryoko's dress, Kousuke's suit, and Ayumu's father's suit.**

**Speaking of Ayumu's father, I'm sorta sick, and I'm sure Ayumu is too, of everything being about Kyotaka, Kyotaka, Kyotaka. So, I twisted it without giving any info into what happened to Ayumu's parents, because I don't know and I wanna stick as close to the original as possible.**

**Anywho, last chapter tomorrow guys! To be honest, I can't wait to finish this!**


	12. Twelve Lit Glowing Candles

**Yes, I know I'm late, but at least it's only a day! Ha! I actually finished! Enjoy the last chapter you guys!**

Hiyono rubbed her hands together, her expression full of gleeful malice, "Everything's almost in place. Rio, are the decorations ready?"

Rio exhaled exhaustedly, climbing down the ladder, "Why do I have to be the one to do the decorations while you and Ryoko take care of stuff on the ground?"

Hiyono didn't answer, but turned to Ryoko, who was just finishing setting the tables, "Is everything else ready, Takamachi-san?"

Ryoko nodded, "Everything but us!"

With that, they made some final touch-ups and headed for home to get ready before the Party would start.

Now, Hiyono's biggest task was to drag Ayumu to the party without him having any idea where he's going. That would be the difficult part. Sometimes she hated the fact that her best friend was a genius and there was nothing she could hide from him.

As she walked to her house, she pondered how easy it would be to get him out of his.

---

Ayumu rolled over in disgust. It had been two days since he had slept in his bed, and now it smelled like Hiyono. Why was it that, no matter what he did, he couldn't get away from the quirky little newsreporter? Thinking of which, he was beginning to wonder if that suit of his father's had some kind of mind-altering chemicals in it or something. He honestly had no idea what had happened to him that previous day. Maybe there were some kind of drugs or chemicals laced in that suit.

After replaying the previous day so many times in his head, his brain had numbed it to the point that he could barely remember exactly what happened anymore.

He buried himself in the covers and pillows, trying to get away from anything, even thoughts, that resembled Hiyono.

Until the phone rang.

The brunet had no idea why he got up to answer the phone. He knew who it was. Still, he rolled off the bed, slowly stood and trudged over to the phone and picked up the reciever, "Hn."

Sure enough, "Narumi-san! Are you still sleeping? It's almost seven o'clock at night!"

"What do you want, stupid?"

He could hear her growl over the phone, "Narumi-san, it's Christmas Day! You need to be happy! And not sleep the entire day!"

"Is that what you wanted to say?"

She huffed, "Of course not. I called to remind you that you're taking me out for dinner in a half an hour and you can just meet me in the lobby of-" He heard the rest of her sentence, and maybe it was because he was so tired that he didn't realize it was the building that Eyes Rutherford lived in.

That suit was seriously laced with something. He had no idea what else could posess him to put the suit back on along with his trademark fluffy-necked coat and a pair of boots, because of the snow.

What had convinced him to walk to that building, he would never know.

---

Hiyono glanced around, trying to make sure everything was perfect. All twelve sweet-smelling candles were lit on the tables and around the room, making the room feel warm and quite home-like. Eyes had popped in a few minutes ago to make sure nothing had blown up yet and left without a word. No one had arrived yet, it was still pretty early. The strangest thing for Hiyono was her mind second-guessing her entire plan for the night. The past couple days had thrown her so out of whack that she could barely think straight anymore. Luckily, she was able to get into her dress with no trouble.

Rio popped in first, wearing a knee-length forest green dress, green ribbons in her hair. Both girls began talking and admiring each others' dresses. After double-checking everything, including everything for Hiyono's plan, they sat down at one of the small tables, pretty bored.

"Rutherford-san did a good job, didn't he?"

Rio raised her eyebrows. "You mean renting the place and the sound and light equipment? 'Cuz we did the decorations, believe me, I won't forget that." she rubbed her side where she had bashed her ribs against the ladder. It had jolted her and if it were up to Ryoko or Hiyono, she would probably go to the hospital to get it checked out because of her previous rib incident, but Rio refused.

The next to arrive was Ryoko, alone. Hiyono rushed up to her and asked her if everything was all right. Ryoko didn't answer and changed the subject. Both Hiyono and Rio noticed that Ryoko kept glancing at the door every now and then, as if she was waiting for something.

They saw her perk up when the door opened, but she slouched again when Ayumu came in, looking quite annoyed. Hiyono bit her lip and crouched behind the table to keep him from seeing her, for some reason she suddenly felt afraid and anxious at the same time.

She scrunched her eyes closed for a while, hoping he wouldn't see her if she didn't see him. Finally she stood to her feet, but turned her back to him so she couldn't see him. When she heard the music begin to play, she tried to convince herself that Ayumu wasn't in the room and began to twirl, since that was pretty much all she could do in her dress.

The young reporter twirled until she teetered and swayed, clearly dizzy. She tried shaking herself out of it, but she failed, falling up against something solid. When she looked up, what she had fallen up against was Ayumu Narumi, his auburn hair coated with flakes of snow and his coat still on. He spoke in his low voice that always made him sound annoyed, "Don't even think that this means I'm going to dance, stupid girl."

Hiyono barely noticed the gulp in his voice as he looked at her. Her tawny sorrel locks were left down and curled, cascading over her shoulders in full ringlets. She wore a sleeveless dark blue dress, almost as dark as his suit. The torso fit snugly on her waist, but the skirt flailed out in billows. It was slightly full, but not to the point of what she would wear to a high school prom. After his mahogany eyes scoured over her for a few minutes, he commented, "You look like something out of the English Renaissance."

In response, she smirked, "And you look like some kind of pompous CEO of some big company, that is, if you'd take your jester's coat and boots off, you're tracking water all over the floor."

He looked down at his boots, then glared up at her. It didn't take him long to walk to one of the tables and sit down, taking his coat off and putting it on the back of the seat before taking his boots off. When the food finally came, Hiyono didn't wait, even with the pretty dress on, to dig in. Ayumu stared at the food once and pushed it away from him, suddenly no longer hungry.

As Hiyono was chewing, her mouth clenched in its place and, if this was a dorky cartoon, steam would be coming out her ears. Her face grew noticeably red as she jumped up from her seat and rushed into the kitchen. Inevitably, Ayumu slowly rose to follow her to make sure she didn't make anything explode, except her brain, of course.

Hiyono went rushing into the kitchen as fast as her feet could take her. When her feet hit a wet slippery floor, they slipped out from under her and she unavoidably went sliding across the floor.

When Ayumu heard the loud crash, he sped his pace from slug to a slight jog. When he arrived at the kitchen door, he went through carefully, noticing the wet floor. He heaved a great sigh and followed the wet slide marks to a scramble of limbs and fabric he could only qualify as the remains of Hiyono Yuizaki.

He briskly walked over to her, bending down to lift the groaning heap of reporter to her feet. When her feet continued to slip, he gripped her back and the back of her knees to carry her over to a counter. He quickly elbowed all the pans and junk off the counter and sat her up there. She gently groaned, "I'm sorry, Narumi-san, I didn't mean-"

He reprimanded her harshly, "Sh. Don't talk, stupid."

Ayumu took out a cloth from a drawer that he somehow knew where it was, wet it in the sink, and brought it to her face, blotting a bit of blood from her temple. She watched him with her golden hazel eyes, an apologetic expression on her face, "Gomen, Narumi-san."

He concentrated on cleaning the blood from a few cuts, "I told you, don't apologize."

Hiyono sighed, staying silent. Now a bit worried at the silence, Ayumu inquired, "You want me to make you something to eat?"

To his surprise, Hiyono shook her head, "No thanks, Narumi-san."

After another moment of silence, he gently lifted her from the counter and set her back down on her feet, "Do you want to go back to the table?"

Hiyono nodded against his chest and finally let herself stand on her own. Slowly, both walked back to the table, Hiyono with her wet hair and rumpled dress. Before they reached the table, a slower song began to play over the speakers. Ayumu glanced at his friend, his eyes inquiring about going out on the dance floor.

Again, Hiyono shook her head, "I don't really feel like dancing OR eating, Narumi-san."

Ayumu grabbed her hand and tugged her toward a back exit, after putting on his shoes, muttering, "C'mon, you need fresh air. There's something seriously wrong with you."

Hiyono looked over at Ryoko, still staring at the door. When she finally gave up, the door slowly opened as a slightly dejected-looking redhead slipped into the room. Rio, looking strangely annoyed, raised her head from her sulking and tapped Ryoko's shoulder. Ryoko slowly turned around. When she saw Kousuke, she rose to her feet, but did not come forward. She wore a long, slim scarlet red halter-top dress, the length of the flowing skirt-piece making her look even taller. Kousuke wore a dark green jacket and black dress pants, contrasting his hair and his partner's dress in a kind of complimentary contrast. He took his time in walking up to her, but when he made it, he pulled her into an embrace. Ryoko buried her head into his shoulder and stood there. They appeared to make a little conversation, but Ryoko quickly ended it with a punch to Kousuke's head.

Hiyono smiled, glad that her friends had gotten over whatever happened. When she turned back to face Ayumu, he stared at her, still waiting for her to come outside.

Hiyono caved and let him lead her outside into the dark blue night, lit by a nearly full moon. When Ayumu closed the door behind them, he turned to her and watched her. She slowly lifted her glassy moonlit eyes up to him, "I'm really sorry, Narumi-san."

When she said it, he clasped her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye, "Stop. Now."

Hiyono looked at the snowy ground and said no more. Ayumu turned his eyes to the sky and dropped his hands from her shoulders, "It's snowing."

She lifted her eyes to see the snow falling, among something else that was being held over her head. Suddenly remembering, she quickly looked over to the top of the doorway to find it empty. Shocked, she turned back to the male figure holding the item above her head. Finally, she stammered, "But Narumi-san! I-I thought-you said it was s-stupid!"

With his free arm, he pulled her closer, the look in his eyes knowing and almost devious, "It's only stupid when you're the one who came up with it."

She glanced up at what he was holding, her mouth agape. Ayumu took the opportunity and tugged her body close to his, his eyes slowly sliding closed. He leaned down, but did not fully kiss her, simply lingering his hot breath over her mouth. Flustered, Hiyono could only close her eyes and rest her hands on his chest. With that, Ayumu began to doubt what he was doing. He began to think about the logicity of it all. He began to pull away.

However, Hiyono whispered, her voice almost pleading, "Narumi-san..."

Ashamed that he had second-guessed himself, he leaned forward and kissed her lips with such gentle tenderness that Hiyono nearly gasped. If he ever did kiss her, Hiyono expected that it would be short and forced. Ayumu fully shut his eyes and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her back. He interlocked his lips with hers and massaged them with pent-up sweetness that most would think did not exist. As the mistletoe fell out of his hand and onto the fresh-fallen snow, Hiyono shivered, barely able to believe that this was Ayumu Narumi. Ayumu rose one hand up to cradle her cheek and brush her hair from her face and he jerked his head forward once, showing her a chaste glimpse of some unknown warmth and fervor that he did not even expect from himself. Just as she was beginning to forget everything that she had planned to do, she heard a giggle and a strange gushing sound. Ayumu reluctantly but quickly pulled out of his kiss not quickly enough for either to escape the river of blue paint dumped on them from the bucket above the doorway.

With that, Rio scampered as fast as she could away into the darkness, having a giggling fit, "Merry Christmas! And to all a good night!"

Hiyono growled and Ayumu scowled, both covered in blue paint and giving the same response. They knew that it would be at least a few more Christmases. For now and at least another few years, it was just a Merry Christmas.

That suit seriously had to be laced with something.

**What'd you guys think? And no, the suit wasn't laced with anything, it's just Ayumu in denial of what he does, and blaming it on the suit. I would have left it off at what Rio said until I realized that people could take it like something dirty, and I didn't want that, I like fluff, so I added the last part. I was trying to imply a marriage factor, but I don't know how well that went. The title of the Twelve Candles refers to the part in the beginning, but it also has to do with the mood of the entire chapter and how those candles kind of affect Ayumu's, Hiyono's, and even Ryoko and Kousuke's moods. Anywho, a little shout-out to my reviewers on my last chapter! I love you guys! And everybody else too!**

**Julia: **Alas! It is finished! I hope you like it! Thanks for the reviews!

**SasuNaruxAyumHino:** Thanks for your support for my stories! I hope you like the story!

**putrisha94:** Haha, nobody's plans worked as they had initially planned! I do hope you like the ending!

**Justme and Justmeagain:** Awww! I'm so flattered! Thank you so much for hanging in there with me! I hope the ending suffices!

**big dreamer girl:** I finished the day after Christmas at least! Tell me what you think! Hiyono's plan sorta went to kapootie, wherever kapootie is.

**El Taco: ** Thank you! I appreciate all your support! I hope it turns out well! I would try to put tacos in there somewhere, but tacos and Christmas don't quite match as well and I was too lazy to do anything other than what I had to to finish it.

**Dee:** Thank you very much! Hehee, Last chapter! Tell me what you think!

**Me: ** Oh yes, snowing and fluff is very very good. So good that I have decided to do a strictly winter snowy fic sometime in January. I is updated! Do give me feedback! Hehee.

**I love you guys! Tell me what you think and I'll see you later! I'd also love any feedback or ideas! That'd be pretty cool!**


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